Gore Nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

In case you haven’t heard, President, er, um, former Vice President Albert Gore Jr., was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

His candidacy was floated jointly by one conservative and one socialist member of the Norwegian national parliament.

A number of months ago highwayscribery, a long-time supporter of the man Gary Trudeau lampooned as “Prince Albert of the Tennessee Valley,” wrote on what it considered a Gore Zeitgeist moment in the national media.

That moment has passed, but Gore has not. Since then he’s been nominated for an Academy Award, thanks to his role as producer of “An Inconvenient Truth,” and remained the subject of persistent presidential rumors.

We hope Gore stays a civilian. The country doesn’t deserve him and he's better without the straightjacket.

In fact, if we choose to view Gore’s life in comparison to that of the current White House resident (and we don’t), it becomes clear that affecting policy and improving lives is not necessarily best achieved from the president’s perch.

We also hope, and expect, that Gore wins the Nobel.

When he does, don’t expect the universal exultation and expressions of pride typical in other countries whose citizens win the prize. Nope.

the scribe vividly remembers a public television show featuring editors from the “Wall Street Journal” some three years ago. Former President Jimmy Carter had just gotten the nod from Oslo, but no kudos were forthcoming, because the panel suspected Jimmy’s Nobel had something to do with his critique of w.’s war in Iraq.

Which, of course, you didn’t do back then unless you were willing to be labeled, “looney left,” or “Bush-hater,” or an “appeaser.”

(A belated welcome to the club Mr. Carter.)

“This is the country [Norway] that gave us the concept of ‘quisling’,” one conservative commentator widged.

Quisling indeed.

And so the right wing, or conservative media, has ghetto-ized the achievement since nobody from their team ever wins the Nobel.

Of course, when violence is your idea of enlightened government, a manly badge never to be shorn for fear of ridicule, what do you expect?

It’s a PEACE prize for chrissakes.